Charles Durning

He was the ninth of ten children, but five of his sisters died of smallpox or scarlet fever in childhood, three of them within two weeks. His surviving siblings were James (1915-2000), Clifford (1916-1994), Frances (born 1919) and Gerald Durning (born 1926). His mother, Louise (Leonard), who was of Irish descent, was a laundress at West Point, and his father, James Durning, was an Irish immigrant who had been badly wounded in World War I, just as Charles would be in WW II. He died when Charles was 12.

His military records from the National Archives show that he arrived in Normandy on June 15, 1944 and was wounded the same day by shrapnel from an exploding German "S" mine. He received his first and only Purple Heart for this wound. Arlington National Cemetery recently recut his headstone to reflect the award of only one Purple Heart Medal. His medical records state that all the shrapnel was removed so there was no metal remaining in his body.

Alumnus of the AADA (American Academy of Dramatic Arts), Class of 1948.

WWII veteran, dance instructor and diversely talented stage & screen actor were all inclusions on the resume of this perpetually busy US actor who didn't get in front of the cameras until around the time of his fortieth birthday. The stockily built Charles Durning was one of Hollywood's most dependable and sought after supporting actors. Durning was born in Highland Falls, New York, to Louise Marie (Leonard), a laundress, and James Gerald Durning. His father was an Irish immigrant and his mother was of Irish descent. Durning first got his start in guest appearances in early 1960's TV shows. He scored minor roles over the next decade until he really got noticed by film fans as the sneering, corrupt cop "Lt.

Was considered for the role of General Worden in The Dirty Dozen (1967).

His breakthrough role occurred on Broadway in 1972 starring in "That Championship Season" where he was noticed by director George Roy Hill who cast him in his acclaimed Oscar-winning movie The Sting (1973).

Snyder" hassling street grifter 'Robert Redford' in the multi award winning mega-hit The Sting (1973).

Durning was equally entertaining in the Billy Wilder production of The Front Page (1974), he supported screen tough guy Charles Bronson in the suspenseful western Breakheart Pass (1975) and featured as "Spermwhale Whalen" in the story of unorthodox police behavior in The Choirboys (1977).

The versatile Durning is equally adept at comedic roles and demonstrated his skills as "Doc Hopper" in The Muppet Movie (1979), a feisty football coach in North Dallas Forty (1979), a highly strung police officer berating maverick cop Burt Reynolds in Sharky's Machine (1981), and a light footed, dancing Governor (alongside Burt Reynolds once more) in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982). Durning continued a regular on screen association with Burt Reynolds appearing in several more feature films together and as "Dr.

He played Santa Claus on television five times in his lifetime: in It Nearly Wasn't Christmas (1989), Mrs. Santa Claus (1996), Elmo Saves Christmas (1996), Mr. St. Nick (2002), and A Boyfriend for Christmas (2004). Ironically, he died on Christmas Eve.

Harlan Elldridge" in the highly popular TV series Evening Shade (1990).

In off-Broadway production of "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui", Bertolt Brecht's Nazi Allegory set in Chicago. [October 2002]

Was the recipient of the 44th Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award for 2007. [December 2007]

His life and military service honored as part of the 24th National Memorial Day concert, which features Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise. [May 2013]

In 2017, author Anna Graham Hunter, who had worked as an intern on Death of a Salesman (1985), published her diaries from the shoot: though sharply critical of other cast-members, she recalled that Durning "made every room he entered a happier place".